“Aight.” I took the envelope. “And thank you, bruh.”
Waving me off, he said, “Ain’t no need for that.” He stalked off down the hallway and back to the elevator. Tossing the envelope on the bed, I stripped my clothes off, headed into the bathroom, and got my shower out of the way. I brushed my teeth, moisturized, and dressed to prepare for the long night ahead ofme. Downstairs, Pretty slept peacefully inside one of the private rooms while the staff and I continued to monitor her.
Haven was in the clear. She too was in one of the private rooms recovering. Jabari and I hadn’t spoken yet, and that was partially because he was still stuck in a daze. Well, he was deathly silent. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. I had my staff watching his ass, too, just in case he had a breakdown or some shit.
I sat on the edge of the bed to put my socks and shoes on, then glanced at the brown envelope. Reaching over, I grabbed it, then opened it to see what was inside. Carefully, methodically I scanned the pictures. With a gentleness that I didn’t feel, I put the pictures back inside the envelope, placed it aside, then stood. Once I had my wallet, phone, and keys, I headed back out of my apartment and to the elevator.
Inside the metal box, I roared loud enough to shake the state. With death in my eyes, heart, spirit, and mind, I stared at my reflection. These niggas wanted me. Sometimes a muthafucka had to pop out and remind a nigga, behead a nigga, kill a nigga, bury a nigga and his whole blood line… Or whatever that nigga said.
Downstairs, I merely glanced at Alli and Dothan, signaling for them to follow me. Glancing at DJ who was in a corner by himself looking stressed the fuck out, I said, “No one in or out.”
“Aight,” he replied.
“Aye, Doc?”
Behind me, Jabari approached.
“‘Sup?”
“I’m comin’ wit’ you,” he said. Funny thing was, he left no room for debate. His eyes were dark, like he wasn’t in his right mind. Well, shit. Neither was I.
“You can’t possibly know what you’re askin’,” I said.
His quick grin was filled with everything except humor before it dropped from his face.
“I’m pretty sure I’on give a fuck right now,” he stated.
“Bet.” I wouldn’t deprive the man of watching the life drain from the eyes of those responsible for injuring his wife. The four of us exited Dr. Bell & Associates with murder on our minds.
An hour later, dressed in all black, we pulled up to our first destination. Within minutes, we were in and out, leaving nothing breathing behind us. The skill with which Jabari handled himself had me side-eyeing him in the back of the black van taking us to our next spot.
“When was you gon’ tell me that you can play like that?” I questioned.
“They fucked with my wife, bruh. I’m willin’ to come out and playun-fuckin’-fairbehind that woman.”
“Real shit,” Dothan muttered.
Our second destination was across town, in a dilapidated area overrun with hoes and drugs. In the back of one of the row houses, the unmarked black sedan peeked through a partially standing makeshift garage. We went through two row houses, silencing every breathing thing in both of them.
Our last destination was a community on the outskirts of the city. Ten years ago, this area was desolate. Now, it thrived with businesses, homes, and restaurants. The only restaurant I was concerned about was the one owned by the McAroy family. Alli maneuvered the van to the back of the building where a few luxury sedans were parked.
“It’s dark in there,” Dothan stated. “They’re in there, though.” His intel was solid, so I didn’t doubt him.
We filed out of the van and rushed to the back door. It was cracked open, like someone waited for us to show up. On high alert, we entered the darkened interior. Quickly, we swept through the kitchen area and hallway, before coming to aclearing where the dining area was located. All the tables were clean, with chairs propped up on them. By the smell, someone had cooked recently. A light coming from underneath the private dining hall alerted us to movement.
Alli moved swiftly towards the door. I stood in front of it with my gun trained on the wooden structure. Alli opened the door leading with his weapon. A strange look crossed his face as he motioned me to follow him inside.
Kody chuckled lowly as I entered the dining hall. At the front of the large dinner table he sat, shirtless and drenched in blood. Food was spread out on the table, partially eaten. Copies of the same pictures I received laid on the table. Seated at the table were each of the McAroy men pictured in the photographs. The elder McAroy, Kody’s pops, along with the remaining McAroy men each had gaping bullet holes in their chests and heads. Just to be sure, Dothan rounded the table to check each of their pulses.
I eyed Kody. He looked deranged as fuck.
“I handled mine, nigga,” he stated calmly as he met my eyes. “Now you handle yours.”
There was a truce there. One that I was willing to accept.
Leaving the dining hall, we retraced our footsteps back to the van.
“Now what?” Jabari asked.
